


Gotta Be You

by natsucchi29



Series: dialogue prompt [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, First Love, Opposites Attract, Reunions, idk why i had akaashi living in an apartment by himself but there you go, kuroo is a supportive lil shit, sorry bokuto's only an extra in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 06:06:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8612161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsucchi29/pseuds/natsucchi29
Summary: Akaashi is reunited with his first love from high school, and is determined to become a better version of himself, despite the very little progress he's made.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [miss_lefty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_lefty/gifts).



> \- I'm so ashamed at how long this fic has been overdue... I'm sorry miss_lefty  
> \- my first time writing about Akaashi! He's pretty endearing to write about :)  
> \- as always, thanks to my beta, Summon_the_Stars!  
> \- comments are always appreciated!

Akaashi Keiji. Known as “level-headed”, “cool”, and “calm”. He’s almost the complete opposite of Bokuto Koutarou, his team captain during his second year, whom he’s spent a lot of his time with. His other teammates respected him as their team’s official setter, and by how Akaashi always manages to keep his calm demeanor, especially during nerve-wracking matches.

But what they don’t know is that, that’s only the surface of Akaashi Keiji.

Like Bokuto, he too has strong feelings that can be outright childish if one were to know about it. And that’s how he’s different from Bokuto – he doesn’t let anyone know about what he’s really feeling and keeps it all bottled inside.

Not that it bothers him – he’s been like this as far as he can remember.

Until a certain person came along into his life, and Akaashi realized that the façade he puts up most of the time didn’t have any effect on her.

The funny thing is, he’s only had one actual interaction with this person, and yet, this person’s impact on him was too great to call her a stranger in his life.

Akaashi recalled that one and only interaction he had with that person.

 

_During the summer training camps with Shinzen, Ubugawa, and Nekoma High Schools, Akaashi, a first-year setter, has only played 2 out of 65 games their team has played in the duration of 7 days._

_He also has never played in an official game, though he’s considerably better than the team’s third year setter whose emotions are out of whack during every match, but luckily for him, his teammates are good enough to uphold the Fukurodani name._

_It’s the camp’s last day and the coaches held a feast for the players, who immediately began wolfing down at every food they can get their hands on, like they’ve been starved to the brink of madness._

_Akaashi sat out in the corner away from his team and away from any hungry man who was happily stuffing his mouth with food. He didn’t even move from that spot to grab himself some food, nor did he care._

_“Those guys are going to finish all the food if you don’t go over there and grab some.”_

_Akaashi didn’t even bother raising his head to look at the person talking to him. “It’s fine. I’m not hungry,” he said, shifting himself away from this person whose presence he can feel beside him._

_He heard a sigh from this person, and they walked around in front of him, and shoved a plate of food on his lap._

_“I grabbed some extra food for the kid who’s sulking in a certain corner. Here you go.”_

_This person’s tone isn’t authoritative or mocking – it has a hint of gentleness besides the slight monotone they used for the sentence._

_Akaashi finally looked up to see you flashing a small smile at him. He recognized you as that 2 nd year lady manager of Nekoma’s. _

_“I’m sorry for talking so—_

_You sat beside him, with the comfort of sitting with somebody you’ve known for a long time. “Don’t worry about it, Akaashi-kun! I don’t like that sort of thing anyway.”_

_How you know his name, he didn’t know, but then he still wondered—_

_“Ah! I knew your name from Kenma-kun!” you responded, as if you knew he was thinking about it, and maybe you really did. “Kenma is our 1 st year setter too.”_

_Akaashi remembered that 1 st year setter, Kenma from Nekoma (whose name now he knows, thanks to you) and remembered that he played a total of 32 games, which 30 of them are wins. Akaashi now makes a mental note to watch out for Kenma, as he’ll be replacing their 3rd year setter when the guy retires._

_“He said he’ll be watching out for you.”_

_“I’m hardly a threat.” Akaashi finally decided to dig in to the food he was given, convinced by the satiating smell of grilled meat on his lap._

_“Just because you only played 2 games this week doesn’t mean you’re not good, Akaashi-kun!”_

_“It means the coach didn’t think I was even worth to be allowed to play any of the other 63 practice games I didn’t play in.”_

_“Akaashi-kun,” you began, slight resignation in your tone. “Aren’t you hard on yourself? You’re good, you know? You’re calm, you think clearly even on the court, and you don’t show any emotions or clues that could give away any of your plans. Those are good qualities for setters to have, you know!”_

_Akaashi’s eyes widened in surprise. To think somebody was watching him, a measly first year, so carefully didn’t even occur to him. “But I’ve—_

_“You only played 2 games, I know,” you finished the sentence for him. “But those are wins, you know? And as Nekoma, we’re close to you, Fukurodani, and we’ve certainly seen something new, and it feels entirely different when you’re the setter!”_

_Akaashi felt blush creeping up his cheeks. Just slightly though._

_“Oh? I really thought you’re the emotionless type, but turns out, you’re pretty expressive too, Akaashi-kun!”_

_Akaashi turned his head to you, with his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. But then he saw your smile, and for some reason, it comforted him. He felt his cheeks go warm. “Nobody’s ever said that to me.”_

_“Oya?” you said, with extreme wonder, but then your lips curved into a smile again. “Then I guess I’m the first one!”_

Since then, Akaashi found himself very aware of you. He longed for the days when they had practice matches with Nekoma, which was quite often (lucky for him), and he wondered why his eyes kept following you, and still felt as if he hasn’t looked at you enough. There was one time Bokuto caught him looking at you, but then he had to play it off coolly and said that he wasn’t, but Bokuto still didn’t let him off unscathed.

It felt mysterious to him as to how your words from that day had such a great impact that he had taken them seriously, worked hard to earn his place in the team as the official setter and was his encouragement whenever he feels he’s not working hard enough.

What’s even more mysterious to him is how you had taken a spot in his life when he’s only had one interaction with you in the course of the whole year and a half.

He didn’t even have the courage to talk to you before you had to retire from the team and graduated.

After you left, he hadn’t looked forward to any of their Nekoma matches anymore, but still didn’t let it show on his face – he just became more serious than ever that his team was careful with talking around their aloof captain, unlike when Bokuto was still around to soften Akaashi. But it didn’t mean that he didn’t do his best for his team.

 

\---

University proved to be a completely different world to Akaashi… and he planned to change accordingly to his new environment, completely different to the Akaashi of Fukurodani Academy. He had planned this before he even graduated from high school.

Yes, he’s going to be become a more sociable, expressive, yet still cool Akaashi Keiji.

Only that isn’t going too well, three weeks into his “operation: transformation”.

He had been whisked away to yet another party on a weeknight, which he found himself internally complaining that he could be home studying, but instead he _let_ his new friends drag him to a house party of someone he doesn’t even know the name of. After all, operation: transformation says he has to be sociable, unlike the hermit he was during high school days.

Sweaty bodies under the influence of cheap beer and alcohol in red party tumblers crowded the whole living room, and even had some drunken people dancing in the kitchen. Akaashi, also one of the dancers, has allowed himself to down who knows how many shots of clear liquid—be it vodka, tequila or whatever, he doesn’t really know, for he hasn’t drank even a drop of alcohol prior to university—plus the beer in his hand for him to reach the state of way beyond buzzed, probably borderline, if not already, drunk his ass off.

He felt the tension in his body vanishing into the air as he shook his body in time with the beat of the deafening music that surrounded the overcrowded living room. Fellow partygoers danced with him, and cheered him on more as he pulled out dance moves he didn’t even know he could do.

Once the song ended, Akaashi felt the need for a break and his throat was feeling uncomfortably dry, so he excuses himself to the kitchen to quench his thirst.

“Hey,” says a girl who approached him, her voice exuding femininity and seduction, much like how she looked.

“Hey.” It would be rude not to return it.

“Say, you’re from the law department, aren’t you?” she asks, her body getting dangerously close to his. “But you have sociology class with Ino-sensei, right? I’m in that class too.”

“Ah, right, yes,” Akaashi replies, half-wondering if the girl was just trying to make stuff up in order to talk to him, but considering the house party is within his university’s grounds, he figured that most partygoers are also students from the same university (aside from a few party crashers).

“I’ve actually been wanting to talk to you, Akaashi-kun,” she croons and takes another step towards Akaashi, who’s involuntarily stepping back to recreate the distance she keeps on closing. “I’m glad I got this chance now.”

“Yeah,” Akaashi finds himself half-heartedly laughing. “My friends just dragged me to this party. I don’t even know who the host is.”

“I’d like to get to know you, Akaashi-kun,” she says, landing a feathery light touch to his nose, and she softly giggles when Akaashi crinkled his nose by reflex.

Akaashi didn’t even get to respond when she grabbed hold of his wrist and began dragging him through the crowd and up the stairs, whispering apologies to the drunk people that he had accidentally stepped on, who littered the staircase. Reaching the wide landing of the stairs and the space just before the bedrooms, she pins Akaashi to the wall, her face only inches away from his that he can smell alcohol from her mouth.

“I think you’re handsome, Akaashi-kun,” she says, closing her eyes with her red lips ready for kissing.

“Akaashi-kun?”

Akaashi’s head sharply whips around, his eyes blown wide.

“(l/n)-senpai…”

He scrambles out of the girl’s arms, and walks toward you, his face etched with unexplainable happiness. He stops himself just a short distance in front of you, with his eyes almost sparkling.

“It is you, Akaashi-kun!” you say, with a gentle smile on your lips. “So nice to see you! It’s been a year, right?”

“Yes, it has,” he replies almost immediately, a grin softly took over his face. “It’s so nice to see you again, senpai.”

His heart soars into the heavens, and he can hear angels playing their trumpets in the background when he hears your cute laugh. “There’s no need to call me Senpai! I wasn’t even from the same school as you.”

“Akaashi-kun!”

Akaashi and you both turned to the voice of the exasperated girl behind him. Akaashi rolls his eyes at the interruption of his reunion with the girl who has captured his pure heart three years ago, and he was glad that you missed it.

“Did I interrupt your moment with your girlfriend there?” you whisper to him, feeling bad for the girl who’s now glaring daggers at you. You remembered that she and Akaashi were about to kiss when you called out on him.

“No, I don’t even know her,” he whispers back, uncaring and monotonous.

“Hmm…” was all Akaashi heard from you, and suddenly, you grabbed him by the arm and weaved your way out of the house and into your car, parked several feet from the house’s porch.

Akaashi scrambles in the backseat while you dial a number on your phone. “T-Thank you…” he heaved, “for getting me out of there.”

“Tetsu! Where the hell are you?” you yell at the phone to someone named “Tetsu” and Akaashi felt a slight pang of ache at the thought that “Tetsu” might be your boyfriend.

“Yeah, I found somebody we know, and we got out of there. If you don’t get out in 10 seconds, we’re leaving you!”

And then you hung up the call, ignoring “Tetsu’s” loud protesting from the other end.

Tetsu…

“You don’t mean, Kuroo Tetsurou, do you?” Akaashi finally asks.

“Ah, yeah,” you confirm his thought. “I came to the party with him, but I think he got hit on by some girls and we got separated. The bastard didn’t even look for me!”

Akaashi is now glad that he came to this party. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have been reunited with you again. He thanks the heavens for this odd coincidence, and is now determined not to waste his chance, like he did in high school.

“(l/n)-san, do you go to the university in this district?”

“Yeah, Tetsu actually knows the host of this party, and was invited personally, but I guess the word got spread around, huh?”

“Ah yes,” Akaashi replies. “I don’t know the host. I just got dragged to this party.”

“I thought so,” you say, looking around for any sign of Kuroo. “I kind of knew the host too, so Tetsu tagged me along. I didn’t really want to come though.”

“Me too,” Akaashi says, and he feels blush creeping up as he admits, “But I’m glad that I went, because I met you again, (l/n)-san.”

Akaashi was interrupted by Kuroo’s knocking on the door. “Hey! Open the door!”

He groans as soon as he’s seated. “The girls won’t let me go, and you just had to—Akaashi?” he says, as he takes notice of the guy in the backseat.

“Hello, Kuroo-san.”

“He’s the guy you found?” he asks you, and then he turns to Akaashi. “Wait, you go to the university 5 blocks from here?”

“Yes, I’m studying law.”

“Yeah, suits you well,” Kuroo replies.

“Hang on tight, boys!” you say, and Kuroo immediately puts his seatbelt on securely.

You pulled the car out of the parking spot smoothly, and sped away from the house. Kuroo was glued to his seat. “At least get us home safely!” he cries.

“Hey, we’ve never been in an accident, so we’ll be okay!” you answer.

 

\---

 

Akaashi feels as if he’s been blessed.

And he might just be.

He had managed to get back to his apartment in one piece, his tipsiness already worn off. It might be due to your driving skills.

“Oi, Akaashi, you alright?” Kuroo asks, as he gets off the car and sways slightly.

“Yes,” Akaashi answers, “It might be the alcohol in my body.”

“Or your legs turned jelly from (f/n)’s driving,” Kuroo adds, and Akaashi gets slightly off-guard from Kuroo’s familiarity to you. He recalls that you called Kuroo by a nickname too.

“Umm, thank you for dropping me off,” Akaashi attempts to change the topic, which he was successful in doing.

You smiled at him. “See you next time, Akaashi-kun!” you say, and then you drove off.

Akaashi watched as the taillights of your car vanish from his sight. Turning around to go into his room, he groaned, irritated with himself for missing his chance to get your number and increase his chances to see you again.

 

\---

 

With you appearing in his life once again, Akaashi has decided to work on his transformation… because he could still use some improvement.

Whisked away, again, to another house party, but this time, Akaashi is resolved to be more social, to be more like a guy who might be your ideal: someone who is more fun to be with than the current him.

With a cup in his hand, he was dared by his college friends that he should be taking a girl home by the end of the night. After he was dared, he downs the contents of his cup for the nth time. He shoves the cup to his friend, telling him to pour more alcohol for him, and goes off to find a girl who can catch his eye.

He tries to hit on the 3rd girl he bumps into. He sidles up to her, and her figure swayed with his as he got so intimately close to her, and began to spout sweet nothings, to lure her for his dare.

He pulls her out of the dancing crowd, and takes her to a quieter, less occupied area.

“Akaashi-kun!” the girl in his arms giggled, as he kissed her just below her ear. “That tickles!”

“Seems to me that you like it,” Akaashi purrs in her ear, and attacks her neck with open-mouthed kisses. Akaashi was drunk on the sweet scent from her soft skin.

“Oh my god, Akaashi-kun,” she breathes, her hot cheek against his, and her fingers running along his jawline, ready to pounce. She slightly pulls away, with a breathless look on her face, and she hikes up her leg against his. She slides her hand down to the other side of his neck while sucking on a spot just underneath his jaw.

“Akaashi-kun?!”

Akaashi’s eyes widen, and whips his head at the direction where the voice came from immediately.

And there you are, finding him again in a suggestive situation.

With an entranced expression, his lips spoke your name longingly.

Akaashi was surprised when he felt two hands on his cheeks and his lips met with another pair, and only then he remembered about the girl he was flirting with. Akaashi resisted her grip in response, and pulled away from her.

His eyes still wide, Akaashi held the girl back at his arms’ length. With just one look at her, he knew he had extremely offended her.

He lowers his head slowly. “I’m sorry.”

The girl runs away in tears just after she loudly slaps Akaashi across his face. It was only reasonable with after he did to her, Akaashi thinks.

“Akaashi-kun…”

He drooped his head lower in shame, and he can feel his embarrassment level going up as you take each step closer to him.

 

\---

 

You didn’t ask, nor said a word, as you took him by the arm and marched your way out to the street and into your car. Akaashi seem to have gotten the drift, and just let you take him away from there.

He didn’t say a word, even if as you pulled out of your parking spot and into the street. The house party was situated just outside the university’s campus grounds, but the awkward silence between the two of you made the drive to Akaashi’s apartment seem really long.

“Um, what about Kuroo-san?” he wondered, thinking it was weird that you made him sit on the front passenger seat, unlike the last time.

You shot him a weird glance. “Tetsu? What about Tetsu?”

“We didn’t wait for him.”

“Oh,” you said, “No, I came by myself. Tetsu had to work tonight.”

“Is that so?” Akaashi calmly responded.

After the futile attempt to carry on a conversation, you had reached Akaashi’s apartment.

“Um, would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?”

“Sure,” you replied, “I could use some.”

 

\---

 

Akaashi’s apartment is completely opposite of how he looks right now. It’s neat and orderly, in contrast to his sweaty clothes and disheveled hair, courtesy of that girl running her hands through them.

He went to his kitchen directly after ushering you to make yourself comfortable in his small pad. After a few clinks and chinks, the apartment is now covered in the aroma of brewing coffee.

You thought it was weird when he went right to his bathroom and heard the showers on. At a record time of 10 minutes, the showers were turned off and Akaashi makes a small gap on his door.

“What’s wrong, Akaashi-kun?” you asked, when you noticed him peeking through the gap.

“Oh, u-um…” he stutters, “(l/n)-san, w-would you mind grabbing me a c-change of clothes? I-I forgot to grab them before going in.”

You burst out laughing, much to his embarrassment. “Geez! You can just change out here, Akaashi-kun! I don’t mind!”

He felt blush creeping up to his cheeks. “No! I can’t do that in front of you, (l/n)-san! You’re a girl!”

How can you say such a thing in that carefree way! You’ve always been a mysterious element to him, with how open you are, how you’re always so cool and composed.

“What are you saying, Akaashi-kun?” you said, still laughing. “I’m used to guys changing in front of me ever since I became a manager for Nekoma. Plus, Tetsu changes in front of me all the time like I wasn’t even there.”

Tetsu again, Akaashi thinks.

“I-I’m not Tetsu, (l/n)-san!”

Even Akaashi was surprised at himself.

Your laughter subsides. “I’m sorry, Akaashi-kun,” you said softly, and you got up to grab some clothes for him.

You crept your way to the bathroom, and you snuck your hand in the narrow gap to hand him his clothes.

After he got dressed, you told him to sit down while you served the freshly brewed coffee.

“Akaashi-kun,” you said, and his attention is now solely focused on you. “Will you answer me honestly? I’ll be honest too.”

Akaashi gulps, and nods slowly.

“The reason why I came to that party by myself… was to look for you.”

“What?”

“Tetsu… he convinced me to,” you admitted. “We ran into Bokuto just recently and we told him how we met you again at a party, and he was really surprised about how much you changed. I mean, I kind of thought you changed too, but it’s not a bad thing to attend parties, you know. But what I saw tonight really convinced me that you changed a lot.”

Akaashi held his head low. “I haven’t been in contact with Bokuto-san since we lost during InterHigh in my third year. Bokuto-san has kept our Fukurodani name for two years, and I just couldn’t bring myself to face him.”

“I could tell Bokuto’s worried about you, Akaashi-kun,” you let him know. “I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear from you.”

You watch as Akaashi’s head slowly rise, and you can tell by the slight blush on his cheeks that he was happy. “I-I guess I’ll give Bokuto-san a call next time.”

“As I thought, I like you better this way.”

The blush on Akaashi’s face turned cherry red. “W-What?”

“I’m so glad you’re still the Akaashi I met years ago,” you smiled at him. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I almost couldn’t find it in myself to accept the thought that you had changed. Why were you trying to be the opposite of who you are?”

“I want to be a man worthy of you…” Akaashi murmurs.

“Eh?” you said, rather unbelieving and you didn’t really hear the whole thing, which is why you didn’t believe if you heard him correctly.

“I want to be a man worthy of you, (l/n)-san!” Akaashi’s voice raised. “ _It was you from the start, you and only you_. I’ve always been thinking of you ever since you talked to me, a mere first year, back then!”

_Now I’ve done it._

“I love you, (l/n)-san,” Akaashi confesses, his face incredibly flushed. He can feel his lips quiver at the words and his chest constricting, but it’s now or never. Plus, he’s been ready--mentally and emotionally—to be rejected ever since meeting you again, after seeing you with Kuroo.

“I… I was incredibly happy to have met you again,” he continued on, his whole form shaking, and his insecurities surfacing. “And hoped this is my chance to get closer to you, but it was so painful for me to accept that you have Kuroo-san—actually, I still can’t accept it, and I didn’t plan to confess until I’m a better man—

“Akaashi-kun…”

“But I’m really selfish! Even though I know you and Kuroo-san are already dating, I still tried my best to change myself so I can become better than him, and maybe you’ll like the me who is sociable and way cooler—

“Akaashi-kun!”

You’re sure this time.

You recalled the memory of young Akaashi many times repeatedly, and had thought that the reason why you approached him that day was just because you felt sorry for him. But you learned later on that it wasn’t the case.

When Akaashi moved onto his second year and became Fukurodani’s official setter, no one else in the world was happier than you are—well, other than Akaashi himself, of course. You had wanted to congratulate him, but an unknown but strong feeling made you feel so nervous and you lost your chance to do so. For those times you’ve been watching him, you’ve labeled it as just a “concern” for him, but later on, you’ve come to learn that it wasn’t the right label for it.

“There was no need for you to change. I love you too.”

Upon hearing what you had to say, Akaashi’s eyes are like an owl’s; round and unblinking. A hand covers his mouth, and he turns even redder than he already is.

“E-ehh? Umm, d-did I hear you right?” he stutters, bewildered.

You giggled, your cheeks tinged bright pink. “Yes! I said I love you, Akaashi-kun!”

“Eh? Um, wait a minute,” Akaashi still couldn’t believe his ears, even after your confirmation. “I think I’m just dreaming, or maybe I’m still drunk…”

“Then,” you began, and started crawling towards him. “Should I pinch you so you’ll believe that this is real, and I’m really right here in front of you, telling you that I love you too?”

He tries to stop you with his outstretched arms that braced your shoulders. “Okay, okay, but aren’t you dating Kuroo-san?”

“Tetsu?” you said, and began laughing so hysterically. “You thought I was dating Tetsu? You’re hilarious, Akaashi-kun!”

“Am I wrong?” Akaashi asks, puzzled.

“Totally wrong!” you exclaimed. “He’s my cousin! I grew up with Tetsu so I know even the most disgusting things about him.”

Akaashi had never felt so relieved in his entire life.

 

\---

 

You two were awakened by loud knocking on the door.

“Akaashi! (l/n)! Open the door! Or are you guys still having sex?” Kuroo yelled from the other side of the door, and Bokuto is laughing in the background.

The two of you blushed but were also horrified at Kuroo and the fact that Akaashi’s neighbours probably heard him yelling.

You scramble off the bed and ran for the door, while Akaashi followed closely behind you.

“Shut up, Tetsurou!” you yell at your cousin as you open the door. “You’re bothering the neighbours!”

“P-Please come in, Kuroo-san, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi ushers for the boys to come into his unit.

“Oya? Did we bother your session?” Kuroo smirks.

Akaashi blushes madly. “No, we were asleep.”

“Geez, Tetsurou! Akaashi-kun—

You cleared your throat.

“K-Keiji-kun and I talked a lot and we didn’t realize it got so late, so I just stayed over!”

“Keiji-kun?” All three boys exclaimed.

You can feel your face go warm. “Yes, Keiji-kun, since he’s my boyfriend now!” you say, while clinging to Akaashi’s arm and smiling sweetly at him.

“What a weird couple,” Kuroo says, relieved.

**Author's Note:**

> miss_lefty
> 
> \- I'm sorry I couldn't incorporate that reader is supposed to be a mysterious girl...  
> \- and the fight too... it's pretty one-sided on Akaashi's part.  
> \- But I still hope you like this, even just a little bit


End file.
